The Price of Sleepless Nights
by kristynahyblova
Summary: Magnus spends the night a the L.A institute and witnesses Ty having a nightmare and Kit comforting him.
1. Chapter 2

The harsh light of the computer screen hurt Magnus's eyes as he stepped into the computer room. His eyes not having time to adjust from the dark night of the LA Institute's corridors to the glare of mundane technology. He had been on his way down to the kitchen to raid the refrigerator for something to eat, or perhaps something to do to give purpose to his sleepless ambling about the Institute at night when he saw it coming from the computer room.

Magnus hesitantly poked his head into the room, spying a lone figure in front of the screen. Though the light of the computer obscured most of his features, the silluette was unmistakably Kit.

"What are you watching?" said Magnus. Kit jumped and whipped his head around.

"Magnus!" he yelped, in a decidedly unshadowhunter way. "Goodness! You just literally gave me a heart attack."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. Most shadowhunters are more aware of their surroundings."

Kit frowned, "Thanx. And it's the third season of Sherlock if you must know." He glanced over his shoulder and gestured at the figures moving across the screen, their exited voices made almost comical by the low level of volume Kit had the speakers on.

"Can I watch?"

"Sure. I guess" shrugged Kit, turning back to the screen. Magnus settled on the sofa next to him and turned his attention to the screen and a mystery that was, for once, not his problem.

Magnus yawned as the credits rolled and looked over at Kit. The boy had a faraway look on his face. A face that was starting to look more like Jace's every day and yet also completely different. While Kit had the natural good looks that Magnus knew came with the Herondale lineage, where Jace had a harsh, in-your-face handsomeness, Kit's features managed to make the similar golden hair and cutting bone structure look elegant. His beautiful face was a contrast of delicate beauty and defined jawline that was the moon to Jace's sun.

But it was not Kit's physical features that reminded Magnus of Jace but rather the look of angst in his eyes which Magnus had started to associate with this particular family of Nephilim. The look of someone who was lost and knew it but would not have it any other way because what they were looking for was worth it even if they never expected to find it. Magnus was going to name it The-Troubled-Herondale and have it patented. Jace had been wearing that look the first time Magnus had met him.

Magnus tore his eyes away from his observations. "That was actually really good. I've almost forgotten how good TV can be."

Kit came back to the present. "It's Ty's favorite show." Magnus razed his brows. "He generally thinks that books are the best and that movies are unnecessary," Kit clarified.

"I see." The two of them sat in a beat of silence before he asked, "What else does Ty think?"

Kit shrugged, "Lots of things. That animals are fascinating. That people should say what they mean. That knowledge should be shared and not hoarded in dark catacombs. That C++ should… I don't know that's the part where I always get lost." Kit finally looked a Magnus, "What are you doing walking around at 2am anyways?" he switched the topic.

Magnus shrugged. Kit didn't need to know his problems, but he felt a strange affinity for the young shadowhunter. Perhaps it was his subdued manner or maybe it was that his demeanor and thought full expression reminded Magnus of another Herondale he used to know. "Can't sleep." He stated. Finding that he wanted to share, if only a bit.

Kit nodded as if it was a given, and Magnus supposed that it was. One did not come in contact with the shadow world and sleep soundly ever after. Kit was still staring at Magnus and Magnus supposed he should be taking the hint that the movie was over, and he was now expected to leave but instead he leaned back on the sofa sideways against the armrest and asked, "So how are the Blackthorns these days?"

Kit new he was just asking to keep the conversation going but he didn't seem to mind. "Julian and Emma are intense as always, but happy. Hopefully that mission will keep them occupied for a while. Dru is good I think, when is she not really? And Mark.. Well, there's something with him and Christina and Kieran and it looks like a complicated mess to me but he seems to be enjoying himself so.." Kit shrugged.

"And Tyberious?"

"The usual; computers, training, Sherlock. Tried to raise a family of armadillos." Kit looked down, a small smile playing on his lips, "That did not end well."

"hmm"

Kit turned to the blank screen again and they lapsed into a contemplative silence. Kit staring at the screen intently and Magnus staring at him, studying. They both started to say something at the same time and then held their words, waiting for the other to continue. After another beat of silence Kit whispered, "How did you know you were in love with Alec?" he said it quickly as if he was afraid that if he did not say it he never would or perhaps because he was afraid Magnus would hear it.

Magnus stilled. He did hear it. He had not been expecting this and yet he had. He opened his mouth and then shut it again. Trying to think of the best way to start this conversation because, he realized, this was the underlying reason why he had stayed here with the young shadow hunter.

Kit had become increasingly fidgety and nervous in the silence. "you don't have to answer that." He burst out. "I don't know why I asked. Stupid question. It's probably a private thing – sorry I'm stupid. Please don't zap me. I'm just not think-"

"No. no, it's ok."

"No. really you don't have to. When you know you just know anyways. Probably."

Magnus tried to calm the boy who had gotten off the couch at some point. "No, really it's-"

"I actually don't really want to-" A muffled crash sounded somewhere in the institute. They both whipped their heads towards the sound. It had come from the Blackthorn's family's wing of sleeping quarters. Most of the older shadowhunters were on the mission so there were few people in that part of the building.

Kit swore.

Magnus felt the tingling sensation as he gathered a wave of his magic. Blue started to spark at his fingertips in anticipation of the threat.

"No need for that." Kit snapped as he sprinted into the dark corridors, Magnus close behind him. Magnus didn't know where they were going but Kit seemed to know his way perfectly, even in the dark, so he followed. They stopped at an undecorated bedroom door and there were distressing sounds coming from within. Kit flung himself inside without knocking.

The room was dark but that did not inhibit his eyesight much. It was covered from floor to ceiling, and all around, with book cases. Neatly organized and if Magnus were to take a guess, alphabetized perfectly. By the night stand, on the hardwood floor lay a shattered glass, a pool of water spreading from it under the bed. And on the bed, faintly illuminated by the light of the moon lay Tiberius Blackthorn. Well, lay was a generous word. His face, though pale, and glistening with sweat, was twisted in pain. His dark hair plastered to his forehead. The sheets were mostly of the bed in a tangled mess exposing him in just his pajama pants as he moved restlessly on the bed.

Kit had launched himself across the room, and shattered glass towards Ty. He managed to catch the boy's wrist just as a cry escaped his lips and he flung his hand out in what would have otherwise managed to break the lamp on the nightstand.

In the moment that I took Magnus to take in the scene, Kit had somehow managed to pin Tiberius to the bed, his arms holding the boy in a vice around his chest and the rest of his body trying to pin him to the bed. Kit did this with the practiced swiftness of someone who had done it many times before and almost knew the next move that the struggling figure would make. This only seemed to irritate Ty, who fought back rater viciously against Kit, still in the midst of his nightmare. Magnus snapped out of his stupor and flung out his magic to help pin Ty's legs to the bed and keep him from injuring himself. At the sudden assault of Magnus's magic Tiberius cried out, bucking of the bed and nearly managing to throw Kit off of him. Instead Ty managed to rake three bloody scratches down Kit's bicep. Kit threw a glance at Magnus and furiously shook his head.

"No magic."

"What can I do?" Magnus asked. Feeling useless in the situation.

"Water" Kit almost barked. Magnus hurriedly snapped his fingers and the mess on the floor was gone. "No. _Bring_ water." Kit turned back to Tiberius, whispering something into the still struggling boy's ear. It just sounded like a bunch of nonsense words, but Magnus got the odd feeling that he was intruding on something private so despite the fact that he could just snap again and magic a glass of water he obeyed Kit's command to the letter and left quietly to bring a glass of water from the kitchen, leaving the two boys alone.

When He came back he found the bedroom a different scene. The two boys were clinging together. Rocking back and forth. Kit with his arms around Ty, his embrace so tight it looked painful. But Ty was clinging to him as if he were a battered life raft, one of hands fisted in Kit's shirt, the other griping Kit's forearm in a way that was bound to leave bruises, body curled up into the other boy's embrace and face buried in the crook of his neck. Kit was rocking them back and forth.

Magnus tiptoed towards the night stand, feeling like an intruder, not wanting to disturb them. Though they seemed oblivious to the rest of the world as if they were the only two people in it and the rest was just the raging storm. Kit was whispering the same, nonsensical words over Ty's labored breathing.

The glass made sound on the nightstand as Magnus set it down. Kit's eyes snapped open thought the rest of his position did not change.

"s-t-e-l-e" he mouthed to Magnus and pointed to the top drawer of the nightstand. Magnus quickly and quietly opened the drawer and proffered it to the boy. Tiberius had calmed down enough for Kit to stop the rocking and open his hand to receive it, careful not to disturb Ty who still had his face buried in Kit's shoulder. Kit tried to inconspicuously apply the stele to this own skin while still holding Ty tightly. He managed to draw a sloppy _iratze_ on his arm.

Now that Magnus looked closely at him, Kit really did look like a battered life raft. Drops of blood oozed from the deepest scratch on his arm, bruises were starting to form on his arms and legs from where Ty had gripped him too tightly and worst of all, what looked like a red, angry bite stood out on the underside of his forearm.

Ty finally looked up at the shuffling about just as Kit's injuries started fading. His eyes widened and quickly darted away as he saw Magnus.

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok. I was already awake." Ty nodded at that looking down at his hand still gripping Kit's shirt.

"I think I bit my tongue again. I taste blood." He said shyly.

Kit looked away as he nodded. "Probably. Magnus has water."

Magnus silently held out the glass and Ty took it graciously. Kit kept one arm around the other boy as Ty drank deeply, looking at him with an expression that seemed eerily familiar to Magnus. Never once did he mention that the taste of blood in Ty's mouth was that of his own or that only moments ago he had had red stripes down his arm from Ty's fingernails. He just looked at him as if he was the answer to all his questions. As if he was drinking in the sight of Ty the way that Ty was guzzling the water in the glass, thirsty for a life-giving force.

Magnus realized that by not saying anything he was trying to spare the other boy the guilt of knowing he had hurt him. Instead he took the now empty glass from Tiberius and held it out to Magnus inconspicuously along with the stele. Magnus took them and turned quietly to disappear out of the room.

He glanced behind him only once to see Tiberius, who had laid down again on his sweat stained sheets ask, "stay with me?" quietly into the night. And to witness the blond boy, laying his light head down facing the dark-haired boy, whispering, "of course… always."

As Magnus wandered back to his guest room on the other side of the institute he wondered how even though he had not been able to ask the question that he had meant to, he felt as if he had gotten his answer anyways.


	2. Chapter 1

_Notes:

This happens a month or two before the first chapter that I posted " the price of sleepless nights".

sorry it's out of order, it's just the way they came to me.

Kit leaned against the cold boulder and closed his eyes against the afternoon sun. It was the type of day when he could almost feel the individual rays of the sun hitting his skin with the force of the lightyears they had traveled to reach that very destination. The light breeze from the ocean smoothed over his skin and tugged at his hair, making the whole experience less like baking in an oven and more like a gentle warming of his bones from the inside out.

Kit dug his bare toes into the warm white sand and tried his best to remember and forget at the same time. The seconds and minutes and hours ceased to exist, and he was simply there, alive, sitting on the shore of his mind listening to the memories rolling in over and over again but being content to stay where he was, reluctant to wade in. Slowly he became aware of another presence on the beach. He did not have to open his eyes to know exactly who it was.

After only a few months of being at the institute, Kit new exactly how he would be walking across the wind smoothed sand. He knew exactly the way his fingers would be twisting in the chord of his headphones or working deftly to tangle and untangle some puzzle Julian had created. Kit new exactly how the wind would ruffle his straight black hair and the way his eyes would dart around to every boulder crevice; analyzing.

Kit did not have to open his eyes to see Tiberius Blackthorn walking across the beach. But his mind's eye never quite did the beautiful boy justice and so Kit opened his eyes and watched Ty approach.

Ty stopped only a foot away from Kit, towering over him. He tilted his head with a questioning look, _Can I sit?_

Kit nodded. _Of course._

Ty settled on the sand next to Kit. If he had only been a couple inches closer their upper arms would be touching. Kit looked over at Ty who was looking at the ground close to Kit's feet and Kit looked at him. The silence between them now feeling familiar and comfortable. Kit's gaze wandered over Ty, over his beautiful face, the hard-earned muscles under his black t-shirt and down to the feet poking out of the legs of his dark jeans.

He stopped for a second. He had never seen Ty barefoot. He was always wearing shews or at least socks. Kit guessed that since walking on the beach in either of these was not exactly the most convenient, it had been a choice of practicality, as most of Ty's choices were. But still. It felt somehow like a new level of intimacy to Kit. The skin of Ty's feet was pale against the sand made almost translucent by the sun and as he crossed them at the ankles, it showed off the delicate arches in a-

"It's your birthday" The raspy whisper cut through Kit's thoughts like a blade and it took him a moment to register that it had indeed been out loud. He went rigid with surprise. Since the day Livvy had died, over three months ago, Tiberius had not uttered a single word. To anybody. Not even to Kit who had been the first person that he had let back in after nearly two weeks of complete isolation. Since then the who boys had only communicated with pointed looks, quick glances on Ty's part, and later, notes scribbled on scraps of paper. Now Ty had spoken to him. Out loud.

Kit slowly turned his head to look at the dark-haired boy sitting close to him, watching him as he watched the waves. Not making eye contact.

"How do you know?" he said. Trying to sound casual. His heart beating an erratic rhythm in his chest.

Ty was talking to him. Was Kit the first to witness this phenomenon? Perhaps he had already talked to Julian, or maybe Mark. Kit couldn't help selfishly hoping he was the first. Hoping that he was the one that Ty felt the most comfortable with after such a short time. He was so delighted with this new development that he almost missed what Ty said next.

"I did my own research." Ty paused, "Tessa and Jem told me" Kit did not know how the odd couple that had found him and helped Emma defeat the daemons that had murdered his father knew his birthday but if it was his birthday that helped Ty to start expressing himself with words again, then he was extremely grateful. He had not meant to tell any of the shadow hunters about his birthday. He hated being the center of attention and right now was not the best time for birthday celebrations. The whole Blackthorn family, and Emma, were still in mourning.

Also, birthdays were some of his best memories of his father. Johny Rook had been a very busy man but once a year, on his son's birthday, he had put away whatever he was working on, whatever lead he was chasing and source he was plying and taken Kit to the beach. Kit's best memories of his old life were that of his dad and him lounging on the beach soaking up the sun or splashing in the shallow waves.

Kit had not wanted to share the day with anyone, especially not a shadow hunter. He had thought that he would feel as if he were betraying his father, who had worked his whole life to keep Kit hidden from the very people he was now living with. But as Kit sat on the beach with Ty, not just any shadowhunter, but Tiberius Blackthorn, he did not feel the traitor. He felt as if this was the way things had always meant to end up.

He looked over at Ty and flashed him a smile, catching his glance for a fraction of a second before it quickly darted away again.

"I guess if you had wanted us to know, you would have told someone." Ty continued "but I didn't tell anyone, so I hope that's okay. Also, I got you something."

"You really didn't have to but, thanks." Kit watched as Ty dug around in his pocket wondering exactly what kind of present he could have hidden in there.

After some effort, Ty brought out his iPod and a mess of wires and headphones. "Remember a couple months ago when you asked me if I ever let someone share my headphones and listen to my music and I said I don't?" said Ty working to untangle the mess of wires. "Well I thought about it and I think I would like to maybe let you listen? That is if you still want to. You never actually said you wanted to so maybe this is a stupid idea but- "

"No. No, of course I want to listen" Ty smiled at that and glanced toward Kit pulling something out of his other jeans pocket and handing it to him.

"It's a headphone splitter. I found it online. That way you can listen with me anytime you want to." He offered up the end his iPod to Kit and Kit plugged in the headphone splitter and connected the two headphones. A moment later the strains of a sweet violin replaced the sounds of the waves.

Kit closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the rock. Months ago, he would have scoffed at a teenage boy who listened to music such as this, but now he thought the sound was beautiful. This was what it was like to be in Ty's head. This was what made the shadowhunter who sat next to him (and who was almost touching him in three places along their bodies) calm when the world seemed too much. This sweet and orderly music was so full of raw emotion that Kit was afraid he would tear up and lose all his dignity, though he did not think Ty would judge him.

So, he opened his eyes and turned to face Ty, expecting to find the beautiful boy in profile, looking out across the waves. Instead his blue eyes meat the bright gray steel of Tiberius's eyes. Not a glance, not a quick flash as they passed over his face and on to something more interesting, but a steady stare.

Kit's breath hitched inaudibly, and he stayed still, not wanting to break whatever magic was at work. They were _so beautiful_. There was no way that anyone, writer or painter, would be able to capture them perfectly. There was no way that memory or imagination could do justice to the angel that was Ty, to the soul that was in his eyes, so pure and intrigued.

Kit knew he was gone. He had known for a little while now. But right now, the realization crashed onto him again and again with a certainty that he could not explain. He was terrified of the deluge of feelings that he felt in that moment, of the types of feelings he knew he had for the other boy, but he found that he was even more terrified to blink and lose the steadiness of Ty's gaze. So, he stayed still on the sand and looked into Ty's eyes, the eyes he had been so enamored with even as he had had a knife to his throat, as the violins played and as the sunset with a hue of colors on two teenage boys in the sand and thought that he would never have a better birthday.


End file.
